Mariano Montilla

Mariano Montilla (8 September 1782 in Caracas – 22 September 1851 in Caracas) was a major general of the Army of Venezuela in the Venezuelan War of Independence.

Biography

Youth As a young man he went to Spain where he joined the American King's Life Guard. In 1801, under the command of Manuel Godoy, he fought in the Oranges War between Spain and Portugal and was wounded at the battle of Olivenza. He then returned to Caracas. In 1808 he was active in the emerging revolution for the independence of Venezuela. Following the events of the Revolution of April 19, 1810 where Montilla participated, the commanding General and other colonial officials designated by Joseph Bonaparte to oversee the Captaincy General of Venezuela, were deposed by an expanded municipal government in Caracas that called itself: the Supreme Junta to Preserve the Rights of Ferdinand VII (La Suprema Junta Conservadora de los Derechos de Fernando VII). One of the first measures of revolutionaries was to send diplomatic missions abroad to seek support and recognition of the Supreme Junta of Caracas as the legitimate councilor of Venezuela in the absence of the King. Montilla along with Vicente Salias were sent by the Junta to Jamaica and Curaçao to spread the news about revolutionaries events in Venezuela. Later that year he was appointed commander of a squadron of militia volunteers from the valleys of Aragua. Subordinate first to the Marquis del Toro, then to Francisco de Miranda, in 1811 he fought in the insurgency that erupted in Valencia. Between 1811 and 1812 he retired to Philadelphia in the United States to recover his health. Later in 1820 he landed in Sabanilla, in the province of Cartagena, opened the port for trade, defeated the royalists at Pueblo Nuevo and established communications with Bolivar's forces in the interior of New Granada. In 1823 Maracaibo fell to the forces sent by the Spanish Field Marshal Francisco Tomás Morales. Montilla moved to Riohacha to establish a base of operations for the liberation of Maracaibo, which was achieved after a Battle of Lake Maracaibo fought on July 24, 1823, isolated the Spanish from relief.

Later career

In 1824, Montilla was appointed commanding general of the department of Zulia and promoted to divisional general. The following year he returned to Cartagena de Indias, where he served as commander of the department of Magdalena. In 1828 he was appointed leader of department of the Isthmus (Panama) and Magdalena. However, in January 1833, Congress allowed him to return, and in November 1833 Montilla was appointed minister plenipotentiary to restore friendly relations with England and France and to seek recognition of Venezuelan independence from Spain, a mission that was largely successful. He died in Caracas in 1851, and in 1896 his remains were moved to the National Pantheon of Venezuela.

Legacy Montilla appears as a Comandante General in Sid Meier's Civilization VI, available only to users playing as the Gran Colombia civilization.